This compilation site describes websites that use music to teach language skills. Not only useful for limited English speakers, this site offers ideas for elementary teachers, as well, with specific songs and suggestions for including music as part of a regular lesson. You will find that addressing musical/rhythmic intelligence may draw in students who otherwise struggle. And all of them will find the different approach a refreshing change.

In the Classroom

Make music a part of every day teaching by using some of these great sites and ideas! Your music teacher may even be willing to reinforce both his/her curriculum and your by singing some of the songs in music class. Why not ask?

This creative site is all about sound! The first section presents the students with ten speakers. The students click on the speaker to hear a sound. Then the students find the vocabulary word for that sound from the word bank and drag the word to the correct corresponding space. The second activity "Sorting Instrument Sounds" challenges students to sort instruments into one of four categories (instruments we blow, instruments we bang, instruments we pluck or instruments we shake). The students can hear the instruments, by clicking on the picture of the instrument. Both activities provide a "check" button for assessment purposes. FLASH is required.

Long known to improve accents and intonations, singing with limited English speakers also provides cultural knowledge, fun, and a whole-language way to assist students to memorize English in meaningful chunks. Mainly an alphabetical index to many enjoyable songs, this site also gives suggestions about how to use the lyrics to help improve the students' English.

Listen to songs to teach important (and less important) science concepts. This collection of MP3 files was generated from an old set of records (yes, those round vinyl things that had scratches). While the actual copyright holder information is a gray area, you can feel safe in playing the songs from the site. Most likely, these songs from the 1950s and 60s are past copyright at this point. In any case, you can click to play from smaller or larger file versions. Be patient while they load, even over a broadband connection. It will be worth the wait to teach parts of plants, the water cycle, weather, motion, energy, electricity, and MANY other topics with just a computer and set of speakers to help students retain the information. Most of the content is elementary to middle school age, but some is high school level. Learning support teachers seeking alternate study strategies will love this one!

In the Classroom

Include the links to specific songs for review on your teacher web site or play one of the songs as students enter the room (a sort of audio anticipatory set). You will definitely need to turn up the speakers. Elementary music teachers might want to pick up one of the songs while the students are studying these topics and teach the music and lyrics during music class!

Want to become a part of cyberspace history and preserve a part of our culture? Use your ipod, phone or computer to record the chants, songs, jump rope rhymes, or circle games that your students enjoy. Then submit them to the database so the students can hear themselves on the net.They can also listen to recordings made by other classes. Be part of a new way of recording oral history! Include this activity as art of your study of history and the songs people sang on the railroads, on riverboats, or as they immigrated.

In the Classroom

Before recording for the website use a tape recorder to have students practice speaking clearly when recording. Have older students teach younger grades a chant or song to record. Directions for recording are included on the site. Make sure you follow your school district policies for posting information on the web. Include a link on your teacher website for parents to listen to the class recordings.

Listen to and learn about traditional music from cultures around the world and through the ages. Browse this amazing collection of downloadable tunes to find musical enrichment to enhance a unit of study. Full downloads in MP3 or FLAC format are available for purchase but each offering is accompanied by a free audio sample. Note: this site opens rather slowly.Be patient, especially if you are on a dial-up connection.

In the Classroom

Search this site for songs to supplement your unit in a US or World history class. This teacher was able to find a song about the suffrage movement, and was able to teach the beliefs of suffrage through student analysis of the lyrics and tone. Be sure to search - there are literally tons of songs that can be used for a variety of curriculum.

Explore the basic concepts of rhythm, sound, and mood with this engaging online activity. Visitors are initially asked to help solve the mystery of the lost music and help the frantic conductor finish his concert. But along the way, there are some fascinating side trips that lead students to investigate the sounds of nature, the instruments found in a symphony orchestra, rhythmic patterns, and the effect of music on our emotions. Visit the "Pupil's" area for a variety of Web-based activities and downloadable worksheets, and the
"Teacher's" link which provides lesson plans and related sound clips.

This interactive "quiz" tests student knowledge of the sound of each instrument found in a symphony orchestra. After listening to a musical excerpt, students must match what they have heard with the correct instrument, then read a short description about its function and physical location in the orchestra. Headphones needed. Requires FLASH!

This companion to a weekly radio show by Cincinnati Classical Public Radio is a virtual musical playground for elementary students. The site describes, defines, illustrates and provides audio samples for more than fifty instruments, a searchable archive of past broadcasts (just click on the link to hear the entire show), a collection of engaging multimedia games, and a "Hear the Music" feature that introduces students to selected examples of musical classics. Headphones are needed.

Send your students to this award-winning virtual musical playground to compose music, experiment with tempo and dynamics, explore melodic contours, and recognize musical phrases. Nice addition to an elementary classroom music program. This site requires FLASH. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

Learn about the family of musical instruments found in an orchestra with this interactive site. Grab your headphones, choose a "family" of instruments, select one of its members, then drag your mouse over the "listen" icon to hear its sound.

This virtual playground is filled with motivating, interactive activities that challenge the creativity and problem-solving skills of your early elementary students. Organized into three main topics, based on the nature of creative development they promote, each activity is paired with outstanding resources for parents and teachers. These include suggestions for open-ended questions, discussions on how the activities relate to key academic disciplines, and links to resources that will extend and enrich students' creative experiences. The site requires FLASH. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

This multimedia site introduces students to Mozart, Beethoven, Joplin, Tchaikovsky, and more. Visitors can listen to portions of the composers' most famous works while practicing ordinal numbers and common word endings (-ed, -ing). Includes interactive exercises and virtual jukeboxes that provide additional musical selections.

Practice note recognition with this interactive activity. Click the on-screen buttons or use the keyboard to identify notes as they appear on the staff. Teachers can visit the "Settings" page to customize the activity. Headphones highly recommended.

Early elementary students can meet and interact with nine different musical instruments by simply rolling their mouse over each individual picture. Make sure that headphones are handy, so students can listen privately as they explore. There is not much content here, so you'll need to treat this resource as an audio-visual addition to a more complete lesson plan.

Poke around the New York Philharmonic's closet and meet the instruments of the orchestra. Great descriptions, graphics, and sound clips of woodwinds, brass, strings, and percussion! Turn on your speakers and enjoy this one!

This searchable collection of tunes, melodies, and musical themes provides a great resource for teaching counting and rhythm. Enter a keyword or phrase (or use the melodic contour search if you're up to the challenge), browse to find the desired tune, then click to listen to and view the melody.

In the Classroom

This would be a great activity on an interactive whiteboard to practice going from the tune you KNOW into notation and then to find related tunes. It will really focus students' attention on what they hear and force them to refine it.

These creative and rather offbeat hands-on activities use common paper plates and a lot of ingenuity to illustrate principles of science, math, geography, music, and more! From plate tectonics (no pun intended), to multiplication practice and physical fitness, this site provides an amazing collection of ideas. Instructions are provided for most.

This interactive musical activity is part of a companion site to a new PBS show that focuses on the colorful ethnic diversity found in Maya and Miguel's neighborhood. Students can click on each instrument to hear its unique sound, and create original music by mixing those instruments with percussion tracks and environmental sounds. Also available in Spanish.

In the Classroom

Use this site in a history classroom to allow students to become more antiquated with world culture and music OR in a music class for the same purpose. Have students work on the site exploring and making music in pairs. To make the site more fun for students, have them share their creations with peers via interactive whiteboard!